Highlights

Description of Camels & Kasbahs family holiday to Morocco

Take your family past the palms of Morocco’s Draa Valley en-route to the sea-like folds of the Sahara Desert where you’ll be treated to an authentic taste of Bedouin hospitality as you spend a night around the campfire at a full service campsite under a blanket of stars.

This eight day family holiday allows desert adventures to continue on camel back before heading towards the Kasbah Ait Benhaddou and the village of Tijhza, in the High Atlas Mountains, from where you’ll meet local villagers and maybe help out on a couple of community projects or just join in with the kids' football match.

More family fun awaits as you travel over the Tizi'n'Tichka Pass and down through the High Atlas Mountains on your way to Marrakech where mosques, markets and palatial grandeur add to the excitement of street performers and snake charmers to send you and the kids home wide eyed with wonder.

Please note: as of January 2018 several changes will be made to the itinerary below including flights in and out of Marrakech as an alternative to flying into Ouarzazate and out of Marrakech. Get in touch for more details.

Hello. If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. Rosy & team.

Small group holiday

Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modelled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. If you’re heading off on a gap year your, perhaps – but for those with a two-week holiday, a small group tour will save valuable planning time.

The leaders are not guides – they’re not there to shepherd you around. Instead, they’ll let you know which local restaurant serves great value food – without running the risk of travellers’ tummy. They’ll allow you to avoid hour-long queues at train stations and attractions.

We like to think of small group travel as the Goldilocks option. It is independent travel without the fuss, worry and bunk beds – and organised travel without the coaches. And it’s cheaper than a tailor made tour. It’s sits somewhere in the middle – and we think it’s just about right.

What are the main benefits?

Big experiences
Have big, life-enriching experiences that would be impossible to organise without lots of time and insider knowledge.

Simplicity
Make the most of your holiday time by letting someone else do the hard work and boring logistics!

Peace of mind
Small group tours take care of the security aspects – and provide a safety net should anything unexpected happen.

Who is it ideal for?

Travellers who are short of time
If you don’t have three months to spend exploring, small groups trips let you cover more ground in less time. Your days are not spent queuing for tickets or finding hotels – so you can squeeze more into your holiday.

Solo travellers who’d like company
Likeminded travel companions plus peace of mind for those travelling alone. Single supplements are usually available – providing privacy if you want it.

Less confident travellers
Stray from the tourist trail without worrying about getting lost, and meet local people without dealing with the language barrier.

Mythbuster

“I won’t get any privacy!”
Couples and friends have private rooms, and you can choose to eat alone or not. Single supplements give solo travellers their own room.

“There won’t be any free time”
Free mornings or afternoons let you explore on your own, or just relax.

“The accommodation will be basic”Trips are as high or low end as you like. Though off the beaten track destinations won’t have luxury hotels, this is all part of the adventure.

“I won’t like the other travellers!”
Tour operators try to create groups with a similar demographic – age, families, activity levels... Chances are, you’ll even make new friends.

“Will we be following an umbrella?”
No.

Meet a group Leader

Name: Valerie Parkinson

Story: The first British woman to climb Manaslu, Valerie climbed Everest for her 50th birthday. She’s spent fourteen Christmas Days trekking to Everest Base Camp, and is involved insetting up Responsible Tourism initiatives in the Himalayas.

Meet a local guide

Name: Roshan Fernando

Story: Roshan has led over 130 trips – he adores showing travellers around Sri Lanka. He won the company Leader Award in 2010, but his career highlight was working on their Tsunami Project – which earned him a responsible tourism award.

Responsible tourism

Responsible tourism: Camels & Kasbahs family holiday to Morocco

Environment

Accommodation and Meals:We spend four nights in hotels, two nights camping in Bedouin-style tents in the desert and one night in a mountain gite. Our local operators generally prefer to select accommodation which is locally owned in order to support smaller businesses and their employees. This ensures that most income generated is reinvested into the area and the community. By spending the part of the trip camping, we also reduce our carbon footprint and effect on the environment. Where meals are supplied, seasonal, fresh food is used wherever possible. Most vegetables come from the region of Sous; meat is locally supplied by butchers and fruits can be found at markets or farms in the countryside. The main Moroccan dishes most people are familiar with are couscous, meat and vegetable tagines, fish chermoula and bocadillos, which are available from street stalls almost everywhere.

UK Office:It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

Community

Local Craft and Culture:We pass through several small towns and villages including N'kob, Ouarzazate, Tazzarine and Tijhza where we are able to meet locals and engage with their culture. From visiting Kasbah Ait Benhaddou to learn about local trading, to admiring the sprawling Telouet fortress, our guided tours help clients to understand local ways of life- past and present. Another cultural highlight is Marrakech, where clients are encouraged to haggle for souvenirs, take a ride in a traditional Caliche, or to visit the world renowned Marjorelle gardens. In the evening, the Djemma el Fna central square comes alive with musicians, snake charmers, travelling acrobats and food stalls. This is the perfect opportunity to interact with local people, purchase locally produced handicrafts and to support small street vendors by trying authentic food.

Campaigning for Change:In conjunction with Baraka Community Partnerships, we have sponsored the development of a small village called Tijhza for many years with a variety of projects. These include supplying a pipeline system and water tower to the village and a toilet block for the school. Thanks to our volunteer groups, Tijhza now also has electricity and an annual medical clinic, which has had a hugely positive effect on the welfare of the village. More recently, we have achieved our aim of building a Hammam to alleviate some of the hygiene issues in the area and to provide a sustainable source income for many inhabitants. Unfortunately, devastating storms struck in November 2014, leaving much of the village severely damaged. We were able to raise emergency funding to provide supplies and to re-build many of the homes affected.

Community:Passing through Berber villages up in the High Atlas Mountains, hiring local guides, staying in local nomad camps and using markets has a positive impact on the local economy. If clients express an interest, we are also able to stop at the Horizon Association, which employs local artisans with disabilities to create pottery, metal work, jewellery and weaving for a local and export market. Clients can purchase gifts here, which go towards supporting the various good work they do for disabled people in the community. Also as we stay in Tighza, which is remote and still recovering from damages, our presence is really appreciated. If the villagers are working on various schemes, then we hope to get involved and clients like to leave behind items such as school materials or winter clothes which are taken in and re-distributed by a local association.

Group Size:This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.